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HOOVER, Ala. — Parents, students and other members of the community attended a public forum last week and voiced their opinions on the Hoover City Schools board of education’s decision to stop regular-education transportation for the 2014-15 school year.

As SBFpreviously reported, district officials expect that ending the service — to go into effect in August 2014 — will save more than $2.5 million per year, which can be redirected into classroom investment and/or deficit reduction.

The change does not affect special-education transportation service.

At the forum on Aug. 8, attendees spent two hours telling school officials they had made a mistake in deciding to end the service, and they begged them to reverse the decision, according to a story on al.com.

Hoover City Schools Superintendent Andy Craig said he has been evaluating possible variations of the plan to eliminate bus service, but some of those seem less plausible now. For example, he said that officials with the Alabama Department of Education have informed him that Hoover cannot charge a fee for students to ride the bus.

According to the story, Craig is still exploring whether it would be possible for a private company to contract with parent-teacher organizations to provide bus service and charge interested parents a fee. He has also been examining the possibility of phasing in the bus cuts over a longer period of time.

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